Oblivion
by themillenniumscarf
Summary: After a tragic accident leaves Yugi alone and comatose in a hospital room, a compassionate, young doctor dedicates his time at the hospital to rousing him from his coma and getting him well. In the coma, Yugi proceeds to dream a dream that seems to last for years. Will he ever wake up?


One sunny, cool, day in November, the door to the Kame Game Shop swung open, making the bell on it ring angrily. A woman stepped into the shop, causing the old man who ran it to look up from his counter.

"Sugoroku!" the woman yelled, "Where is Yugi? I need to take him out to get him new clothes."

The old man smiled and said, "Hello to you too, Hana." He said, greeting his daughter-in-law, "I believe he is up in his room, doing homework."

The woman, Hana, turned to the staircase to her side and went up it to find her son in his room, sitting at his desk. She heard the sound of something metallic being placed on his desk and saw him swiftly pick up his pencil and begin writing.

"Doing your homework, hm?" She asked, hoping her voice would startle him.

It did, and the boy turned around, surprised, and then smiled nervously.

"Wh-what? Oh! Yeah, I've been doing my work this whole time!" he said, defensively.

"I see you've gotten further on your puzzle," his mother observed, subtly hinting that she knew he was lying, "When did you work on it today?"

"During my break."

She looked at him with a stern expression that stretched her mouth into a thin line and walked to his desk, picked up his puzzle, and took it with her, out of the room and back down the stairs.

Accusingly, she held it out to her father-in-law and said, "Doing his homework, eh? The only thing he's doing is playing with this damn puzzle!"

Sugoroku Mutou calmly walked over, took the puzzle from her, and held it in his hand, examining it. It was a beautiful puzzle, made out of a lightweight metal and painted gold. It was supposed to be shaped like an upside-down pyramid, but it wasn't quite completed, so you could only see a small part of the final product.

Proudly, he smiled and said, "He's made progress."

"That doesn't matter! That lie you told about it being 'magic' and that 'it's never been solved' is causing him to neglect his chores and homework." She said, frustrated.

He shushed her, wanting her to be quiet about the little lies he told. Those lies allowed Yugi to use his brain and try to solve the puzzle. Working on it seemed to make him happy, and that's all that mattered. He then put it down on the counter and called his grandson downstairs.

Yugi stepped down the stairs cautiously, expecting to be in trouble for attending to his puzzle instead of his homework. His mother looked frustrated, but his grandfather kept a peaceful smile, and lacked any anger in his expression.

"Yes? Am I in trouble?" he asked, his eyes immediately moving to the puzzle on the counter behind his grandfather.

"No, Yugi," his grandfather said, "You aren't in trouble. Your mother just wants to take you out. It's autumn now, and it's getting cold. You need new clothes."

Yugi nodded and took a step towards his grandfather, holding out one of his hands. "Could I have my puzzle back now?"

His grandfather nodded, smiling, and handed him the incomplete puzzle, saying, "Here you go, Yugi. Go get the other pieces in your room and you can work on it while you're out."

Yugi smiled and nodded, wrapping his hand around the puzzle. He looked at his mother for a few seconds before running back up the stairs to his room. As he ran past, Hana's mouth dropped open and she looked at her father-in-law.

"You're going to encourage this… obsession?!" she asked, her voice harsh, but at a normal volume.

"Obsession?" he chuckled and said, "This is no obsession. It's simply a fascination. He's always been gifted with puzzles, you know that."

"I understand that, but he's been working on this one for _eight years_. He is not going to finish it. It's only become a distraction."

"Nonsense. You should believe in your son, Hana. He truly has a brilliant mind."

Before she could respond, Yugi came back down the stairs, holding his puzzle. He had a worn, battered hoodie on and as he walked, he could hear the metallic puzzle pieces jingling in its front pocket. His mother sighed when she saw the state of his hoodie.

"Is that the same one I bought you a year ago?"

"Yes ma'am."

"What's happened to it? It looks like you've gone into war with it on!"

Yugi's face paled slightly as he recalled how many beatings he had gotten in the past year. There had been many, all of them done by people so much bigger and taller than him. One of the most frequent of his tormentors was Jounouchi Katsuya, who often took his puzzle and its pieces when he smuggled them past his mother and into his school.

"N-nothing… It's just old, that's all." He stammered.

Hana's eyes narrowed at her son and she murmured, suspiciously, "Alright, I suppose we'll have to get you a new one. Go, my car is out front and unlocked."

Yugi nodded and fingered his puzzle as he pushed the front door to his grandfather's shop with his arm, causing the bell to ring as it swung past it. His mother looked at him as he passed the threshold outside and then back to her father-in-law, sighing.

"I don't think he's telling us everything." She said softly.

He nodded in agreement, and responded, "I've seen bruises on him coming home from school. He's excellent at hiding them, though, I'll give him that."

There was a short silence before Hana finally walked to the door. She placed her hand on it and said, "You can come along, if you want. Isn't it near time to close?"

Business had been slow that day, and he thought it would be nice to spend time out with his grandson and daughter-in-law. He nodded, smiling, and walked to the front door, gently pushing on Hana's back with his hand to move her through the threshold.

After turning the sign from "Open" to "Closed" on the inside, he shut off the lights, locked the door, and walked out to his daughter-in-law's car. Yugi saw him walking and quickly slipped from the passenger seat to the back seat to allow him somewhere to sit.

This point on this sunny, cool, seemingly ordinary day in November was the very last moment in Yugi's life that was normal. After this point, his life would begin to be manipulated by the cruel forces of fate; and how cruel they were.


End file.
